Way of the Hunt
by lololno
Summary: All my stuff is rated for violence. One year after SD3's end. A daemon has appeared in the now-peaceful world, and is hunting down the Warriors of Mana, one by one . . . Ch. 12 up! The Warriors are in the forest . . .
1. Resurrection or Return

**_Way of the Hunt_**   
A SoM2/SD3 FanFiction   
Written By None Other Than The Infamous ChibiCharizard   


_One Year After The Events Documented In Secret Of Mana 2, Also Known As_   
_Seiken Densetsu 3 . . . ._   
__ __

_Chapter One- Resurrection, or Return_   


Koren drew his tattered, formerly crimson, cloak around himself. He stepped forward, towards the gate, and waited for the guard stalking the parapet to see him.   
Once able to walk through walls, his brush with death had left him shattered and his mage-powers a mere fraction of what they had been. Before, he would have cared about the horrid state of his once beautiful, golden hair- now sustaining his life was much more important.   
The guard tapped her foot and glanced around, pausing for a second on an eventless day. Koren sighed impatiently. He gotten little sleep and less food this last year– there was plenty to be had, but only if you had money. Or power. They came hand in hand, most of the time. The only things he still retained were pride and a lack of patience.   
The guard then looked straight at him; her eyes widened, she mouthed something– his name– and ran inside. Presumably to tell the Queen of Reason, or get a crossbow.   
The eternal spring of Altena was back, however. At least he wasn't cold. Even if his death had just gone inside to fetch a weapon.   
The guard opened the gate, and glanced at him again, just to make sure that he was still there. Making sure that she wasn't hallucinating- seeing people after they had been dead for a year was not very common, for obvious reasons.   
"Koren." The guard hesitated, and Koren waited. "You may come in." Her eyes narrowed. "Don't try anything, Koren. There's an entire contingent here to escort you to the Queen."   
As if that would have bothered me before . . . Koren thought. He walked in, trying to stand tall and proud.   
When he saw the pure hatred etched into every face, he gave up and withdrew into the safety of his ragged cloak, stalking sullenly down the stone hall with the guards circling him, weapons and spells at the ready.   
"Queen." The first guard walked up to the throne and bowed, and Koren looked up in surprise. One of the other the guards grabbed him.   
"Don't move," the guard hissed, "or I'll burn you where you stand." Koren obliged, standing perfectly still and shaking from exhaustion.   
The bowing guard stood up and continued. "We found. . . . this. . . . outside."   
The Queen stared. "Koren! But he died! Alyce, was he skulking about the castle?"   
The guard shook her head. "No. He was standing in plain sight, like he was waiting for something."   
"What do you want?" Valda said, still shocked at the sight of him, and gripping the sides of her throne with white knuckles.   
"Uh. . ." Koren cleared his throat. The guard prodded him in the back. "Food and shelter." he said quickly and honestly, surprised at how grating and unused his voice sounded.   
"And why should we give this. . . ." Valda trailed off, realizing how simple the request was. "Why should we give this to you?"   
"Because . . . . Because I lived here . . . ?" Koren shook his head, dirty hair hanging around his once beautiful face, now covered in dirt. "I don't know . . . . I . . . I'm sorry . . ."   
"Oh." the Queen of Reason said. "Ah . . ." She hesitated. "Put him in the dungeon for now, while I decide what to do with him."   
"Thank you." Koren said, suddenly, before the guards grabbed him roughly and dragged him out of the throne room.   
Valda watched the doors close and sighed. "What do I do with him?" she said to herself softly. "He seems so broken and helpless. . . . . but he was so powerful before. . . . to kill him now must be wrong. . ." 

"Angela . . .?" Angela turned around, and saw Koren standing near her. She screamed and jumped backwards.   
"No! No! You're dead! Go away!"   
Koren sighed, standing up straight again, this time clean after taking a succession of baths, and somehow acquiring another of his trademark red cloaks. "Wait . . . " he said softly, unshed tears glistening in his eyes, the cloak wrapped around him. "I'm sorry, Angela . . . . Valda decided I could live here, as long as I don't leave castle grounds for at least a year."   
Angela backed away from him. "No! I thought you were dead, gone, I can't live with you here, won't you go away . . . ?" She spun around and ran down the corridor into the library, slamming the door behind her.   
Koren turned, releasing the cloak, and walked the other way, speculating on what he could do to win back Angela's and Altena's trust.   


Duran swung the broadsword as hard as he could, decapitating the hapless Rabite with one blow. He picked up the headless body and swung it over the fence to the dog, then kicked the head deep into the bushes and stood up, wiping his sword clean.   
"Can you teach me how to do that?" Wendy said, impressed. "You got a lot better after you left."   
"I guess so." Duran said, dropping into a fighting stance. "First you have to know the proper stance, like this."   
Wendy imitated him, and Duran laughed. "No, put your legs like this . . . Yeah, that's it. All right, now hold your arm up. . ."   
Unseen in the woods, pure white eyes watched them and blood dripped from a gaping maw to mingle with the scattered leaves. The creature, sensing weakness, began to walk forward, towards the walls of Forcena.   
Wendy froze, trembling. "Duran . . . ?" Duran glanced up. Something in the woods. Footsteps echoed in the sudden silence, and a huge, death-black wolf stepped out of the barely concealing shadows. Its white eyes gleamed sightlessly, and blood slithered down its open jaw in dark contrast to its black pelt, congealing on the bright green grass.   
_(Warrior of Mana. . . .)_ The unholy apparition spoke, with no movement but the constant dripping of crimson blood and the drunken swing of its head as it turned to stare at Wendy. _(For killing us, we rip you limb from limb. . . .)_   
Duran dropped into a fighting stance, and hefted his sword. "I'd like to see you try." he growled.   
The wolf lunged, blood pattering onto the ground even as it moved. Duran charged, but the demon wolf nimbly sidestepped him and grasped Wendy in its blood-weeping jaws. It shook her like prey. Wendy was paralyzed with fear, too shocked to do anything other than scream. The wolf bounded back into the woods, its laugh grating like crushed skulls.   
Duran screamed fury and raced after the wolf, following the trail of blood down through the suddenly dark woods, through the Molebear Plains, the small molebears scattering in fear from both hunters, and to the Cleft of the Earth.   
The demon stopped and deposited his victim on the rocky soil and, as Duran approached, leaped across the gaping crevice and vanished into solid wall.   
Duran's first, fleeting thought was of Koren, dead for a year. His second was of Wendy, dumped upon the rocks like worthless cargo.   
"Wendy!" Duran dropped his sword and kneeled by her prone body. Her chest was covered in blood– whether from the foul wolf's jaws or her body he did not know. He desperately hoped it was the former.   
"Dur . . . an . .?" Wendy moved her head slightly, and opened her eyes. She wasn't crying- she was too weak even to shed tears.   
"Don't talk," Duran whispered, fighting not to cry. What if she dies? "Save your strength. I'll get you home. You'll be fine." he said, more to reassure himself than Wendy.   
He picked her up gently, cradling his beloved little sister in his arms, and ran back to the town, leaving the broadsword in the dust. It did not matter. 

Now, Author's Notes!   
1) Yes, I do like Hawk and Koren . . . YAY!! I LOVE HAWKIE!!   
2) This is such a cool story, quiaff?   
3) Read The Next Chapter And REVIEW! T'anks.   
4) I won't have author's notes very often. Rejoice, all ye cretins! ^-^ 


	2. Black Wolf Without Pity

_Chapter Two– Black Wolf Without Pity_   
  
The bright yellow butterfly flitted just out of reach, and Carlie jumped, missing by a mere sliver. She stopped for a second, laughing, and jumped again, this time for a beautifully patterned blue butterfly. Her bug chase was hopeless, of course– it was all for the fun of it, now that the world had returned to normal.   
Heath stood a ways behind her, near the castle gate, watching Carlie with a faint smile on his face. He was currently occupied with other thoughts though, as usual.   
_(Carlie . . . Charolette . . . . we shall kill you . . .)_   
Carlie froze at the chilling voice, but Heath seemed oblivious to it.   
"Heath?" Carlie asked, turning to face him.   
"Yes?" Heath said, absentmindedly staring beyond Carlie.   
"Didja hear that?"   
"Hear what . . . . Oh, Goddess . . . . Carlie, don't turn around. Get back to the castle."   
Carlie turned around automatically, and screamed. A huge pitch-black wolf glowered down at her, then opened it's mouth in a hideous, blood-soaked grin.   
"HEATH!!"   
The demon-wolf lunged at her, howling madly.   
"No!" Heath threw himself in front of Carlie. "Get back, daemon! I call upon the Goddess to disspell you!"   
_(Your Goddess is dead. She killed herself for you to live, but all in vain. Your blood will soak into the ground and mingle there . . .)_   
"I . . . I . . . Pure, Holy Light, source of all power, Goddess's gift, gather in my hands! Holy Ball!" Heath stumbled over the words, chanting as fast as he could. "Carlie, run!"   
"I'm not gonna lose ya again!"   
A stream of blinding light descended upon the wolf. It laughed, sounding like grating bones.   
(_That was the most pitiful display we ever have seen.)_ The wolf stalked closer, and blood dripped from it's mouth.   
"Carlie, just get away from here!"   
The wolf pounced, leaping into the air and landing directly in front of Heath, then lashing out with dirty claws and slashing Heath across the chest.   
"Pure, Holy Light, source of all power, Goddess's gift, gather in my hands! Holy Ball!" Carlie chanted, drawing on her inner magic. Which was much more powerful than Heath's.   
The wolf shrieked in pain as light showered onto it, and backed away from its torn and bloodied prey. _(We shall kill you, Carlie! But now there are more important matters at hand. We shall come back, but our power shall be threefold! Your blood will feed the flowers!)_ The demon slowly melded with the shadows until it was completely gone.   
Carlie started to cry. "Heath, Heath!"   
"I'm . . . I'm fine, Carlie . . . ." Heath struggled to sit up, but failed, and lay on the ground, gasping in pain. Blood leaked from his wounds onto the grass below, and his silver hair was streaked with crimson.   
"Heath, dun move, I'm gonna get help." Carlie decided, and ran into the gate. Heath smiled weakly.   
"Please hurry . . ." 


	3. Black Wolf Without Eyes

_Chapter Three– Black Wolf Without Eyes_

An eerie, blood-chilling, mournful wailing drifted over the walls. A hunting wolf in the dead of night. Hawk shuddered as the howling drew nearer. No normal wolf was this– stories of a daemon wolf as tall as a man were told, and not all were drunken or idle gossip. The people of Sultan and Deek barred their doors and windows at night, and mutilated Duck Warriors had been found.   
He heard a horrible cough, not unlike that of a lion, below the wall. Slowly, Hawk kneeled, and stared down the sheer cliff-face. The daemon snarled up at him, some dark liquid– blood– dripping from its jaws.   
Then it spoke.   
_ (Warrior of Mana . . . . We have killed your compatriots, as well as those that may have aided you. Now it is your turn to die._   
_ (Come and meet our crimson jaws, crafty thief of Navarre . . . . Come and meet your final doom, ninja of flame . . . . The darkness awaits your shrill death scream, as do we . . . )_   
"Then wait forever!" Hawk cried into the clear night. The daemon wolf shrieked its rage to the impatient darkness.   
_ (Coward! If you will not come to us then we will seek you out! Blood will spill, yes, it will!)_   
Hawk stared down at the abomination, his shoulder-length hair framing his face, and realized that it was completely blind. Not even this foul daemon could see through those milky, silver eyes.   
"Hawk?" Jessica stepped out of the doorway, looking worried. "Hawk, what was that? Why are you still out here? Your watch is over."   
Hawk stood up. "Jessica, could you go back inside? Right now?"   
"Why?"   
Below them, the wolf laughed. Jessica froze. "What was that?"   
Hawk said, grimly, "That was why I wanted you to go inside." With an unearthly, bloodlusting howl, the daemon threw itself onto the wall.   
_ (Blood will spill, Hawk. If not yours, then blood of your dear ones . . . We will rend, tear, you shall DIE!) _The wolf lunged at Hawk, who dodged it and drew his knives. It spun in midair and lashed out with a claw, knocking Jessica onto the sands below. Both Hawk and Jessica screamed, one in pain and one in fury. The daemon wolf bounded off of the wall, and, seizing Jessica with its blood-soaked jaws, trotted into the night.   
_ (Come and get her, thief . . . When one fortnight passes, we will devour her soul and scatter the bones to the wind.)_   
By the time Hawk got out of the gate, there was no trace of either the daemon-wolf or Jessica. 


	4. White Wings Carried on Red Winds

_Chapter Four– White Wings Carried On A Red Wind_

Koren bolted upright. He had heard a sound outside his window. Koren took a deep breath. I am no longer in the wilderness. I no longer have to fear attacks in the night. He laid back down, but fear had awakened him and he lay trembling in his room.   
_ (Mage of the Red Lotus . . . . you had served your master well, despite your attempted retreat into death . . . now you shall help us in our vengeance . . .)_   
Koren buried his head in the pillow and tried to will himself to sleep. He was not hearing that voice.   
He was probably going crazy, which was preferable to the alternative.   
A horrible, low chuckle filled the room, and two white-laced eyes blinked open into the darkness.   
_ (Do you doubt us, Mage? We wish you to keep something for us. Keep it safe and undetected. We chose you because you were faithful, despite your attempt at release from life. Only our power kept you alive then . . . . .)_   
The creature moved closer, its fetid breath filling the dark room. Something wet and sticky dripped on Koren.   
He smelled it. Blood.   
Koren backed into the wall, shaking. "The . . . but . . . you were a dream! No . . . no . . simply the product of a fevered, starved mind . . . you can't be here! You can't be!!"   
_ (We are. Now accept our job . . . stop your ranting, Mage.) _ Now gleaming fangs shone against the darkness as well.   
"What is it you want me to guard?"   
_ (Hawk's mate.)_   
Koren paused, confusion warring against fear and winning. "His . . . wife?"   
_ (We have no caring of the exact classification. We want you to hide it, keep it, store it away until we return for it.)_   
"I'll . . . try . . ." Koren shuddered at the daemon wolf's disturbing presence.   
_ (Good.)_ The demon vanished abruptly, and Koren was left alone in his room with Jessica.   
Koren got up slowly and picked her up very carefully. He opened the door and walked out into the hall silently.   
His robes trailed blood. 

Lise strolled down the hall, humming slightly. She was going to see Eliot before meeting with the king of some tiny country in the middle of nowhere.   
"Your highness?" A guard ran up to Lise. She looked worried, and was fidgeting slightly.   
"Yes?" Lise said.   
"There's been some disturbing reports from other kingdoms. A demon-wolf has been attacking."   
"Attacking?" Lise stiffened. "Attacking who?"   
"Attacking the relatives of the Warriors of Mana." the guard looked at Lise again. "I think that you should–"   
A young boy's scream pierced the flat air of the castle.   
"Oh, Goddess!" Lise swore, and ran towards Eliot's room, down long stone corridors. "Eliot!"   
_(Come and find us, Lise . . . come for revenge . . . sweet revenge . . .)_   
Sickening laugher echoed through the castle.   
Lise shoved the door open and picked up Eliot. The room was covered in blood. "Goddess . . . Eliot, Eliot . . . you're going to be all right . . ."   
The guard stared down at Lise and Eliot in horror. "Is . . . is that all his blood?"   
"Tell me . . ." Lise said, tears running down her face, " . . . what does this daemon look like? Tell me . . ." she cradled Eliot in her arms. "Eliot . . ."   
"It . . . it . . ." the guard stammered. "I'll get a more detailed report-"   
"What are you waiting for? Get a healer!" Lise snapped, anxious now for Eliot's safety.   
"Yes . . . yes, sir!" the guard turned and ran back down the hallway.   
"Hurry, please . . ." Lise looked back down at Eliot, lying in her arms fainted from shock and blood loss. "Eliot . . ." 

"Eliot is recovering. It seems most of the blood in the room was from the demon." the healer glanced up at Lise. "He needs rest more than anything. My magic helped a bit, but he still needs sleep to heal fully."   
"Thank Goddess." Lise breathed, then sat up sharply. "The other Mana Warriors? What is happening to them?"   
"I don't know, sir." the healer said, covering Eliot with a light sheet. "He needs to be kept warm."   
"Lise! Sir! Sir!" the guard from before halted in front of Lise and bowed quickly, her golden hair flying about. "Information on the demon, sir."   
"Thank you. Rhi, thank you for your help."   
"It's my duty, sir." the healer said, and bowed her head. She turned and left the room, white robes flowing about her as she walked.   
"The demon, Tris?" Lise said, looking down at Eliot.   
The guard cleared her throat. "Yes. The demon first attacked Wendy, Duran's little sister. It then attacked Heath, a priest of Light."   
"Heath? Why would it attack Heath?"   
"Carlie was outside with him."   
Lise nodded.   
"After that, the demon attacked Navarre. Jessica is now missing. The demon hasn't been seen in Altena or the Beast Kingdom."   
Lise stood up. "Thank you, Tris." She walked out into the hall. After a moment of waiting, the guard followed.   
Eliot was left alone in the room, sleeping peacefully.   
"Flammie." Lise muttered, when she was finally alone in her room. "I'm sorry now that I insisted on returning the Wind Drum to her. It'll be a long hike . . ." She stood up and took the spear by her bed.   
"It's been a while since I've had a spear in my hands. I feel a lot better now. More complete." Lise mused aloud, and stepped out into the hall. She successfully avoided the inhabitants of the castle that were up at such a late hour in the night, and stretched when she was finally outside.   
"Now for the hike." Lise sighed, muttered something about the Wind Drum, and started up the slope, using her spear as a walking-stick. 

The sun dawned slowly, staining the mountains orange and red, and spreading blue across the sky.   
Lise was still walking. By the time the birds starting chirping to each other, she was almost at the summit. But still, not quite there.   
A very large, fluffy, white thing dropped out of the sky and began to rub itself against Lise like a very large winged cat.   
"Flammie! Flammie, stop it! Please! I can't breathe with all these feathers! You're not a cat, Flammie!"   
Flammie blinked and withdrew, and then sat a few feet away, staring at Lise with happy blue eyes. Her tail hung off the edge of the cliff.   
"Yeah, it's nice seeing you again too." Lise reached out and petted Flammie on the head.   
Flammie purred.   
"I think you've been spending too much time around cats, Flammie. You're a dragon."   
Flammie nodded, and spread her huge angel-like wings. Lise jumped on Flammie's back and buried herself in her mane.   
"To Forcena, please." Lise said, into Flammie's ear. Flammie nodded and leaped into the sky with a loud boom of displaced air. She circled over the mountain once, and then soared towards the Molebear Plains. 


	5. Black Wolf Without Mercy

_Chapter Five– Black Wolf Without Mercy_

Duran slung his greatsword over his back and straightened up. It had been a long time since he had last worn this sword. Normally he used ordinary practice swords. This one hummed with the power he had granted it.   
He stepped outside.   
"Stella, I'm leaving. I'll be back as soon as possible. Take care of Wendy."   
"Duran?" Stella appeared in the doorway. "Are you sure Wendy will be safe?"   
"The demon's after me and the rest of the Mana Warriors. If I find them, we can defeat it together." Duran said carefully. That was his theory. It might be after Wendy. If it was . . . Duran shuddered slightly, and whispered a small prayer under his breath.   
"All right. Goodbye. Take care of yourself." Stella said.   
"I will. Don't worry." Duran turned and started to walk down the street, whistling a jaunty tune. He had just gotten out of the gate when he heard someone yell "Duran!"   
"Wendy?" Duran spun around. Carlie was staring at him and waving madly. "I don't think you''ve grown a bit." Duran said cheerfully.   
Carlie stared at him indignantly, and started to protest. Duran broke into a grin and scooped her up in a bear hug. "It's so nice to see you again, Carlie!"   
"Yeah!" Carlie said, after Duran set her down and she could breathe. "I thought I'd never ever see ya 'gain!"   
"Why'd you come here?"   
"Heath got munched on by a big, ugly wolfie."   
"Oh." Duran studied the ground for a second, and then glanced back up. "Is he okay?"   
"Yeah, Heath is getting better real fast." Carlie looked up at the sky. "What's that?!"   
Duran followed Carlie's gaze. "Um . . . that little white dot in the sky?"   
"Yeah!"   
"I have no idea."   
"It's gettin' bigger." Carlie said suspiciously.   
"That it is. Hey, it looks like. . ."   
"Flammie!" Carlie and Duran yelped as the huge white dragon landed on top of them.   
Or at least she landed on top of Duran. Carlie stood a little ways away and laughed until her sides hurt.   
"Could you get off, please?" Duran gasped. "You're a bit big to be sitting on people."   
Flammie nodded in apology and moved.   
Duran sat up and rubbed his back. "Ow."   
Lise leaned over Flammie's head.   
"Hey, stop messing around and get up here."   
"It's nice to see you too, Lise." Duran grumbled, and stood up. Carlie was already on Flammie's back.   
"Hey hey, It's nice ta see ya 'gain!" Carlie chirped at Flammie, who blinked and nodded happily, and then purred. Duran climbed on, using Flammie's fluffy mane as a ladder.   
"Well, since you're in a big rush to get going, let's go."   
"To where, though? Where would the demon be?" Lise asked aloud.   
"Navarre?" Duran asked.   
Lise shook her head as Carlie capered around on Flammie's head. "It was already there. Hawk left."   
"The Beast Kingdom." Duran looked up and met Lise's eyes. They both nodded.   
"Flammie!" Lise yelled. "The Beast Kingdom!"   
Flammie launched into the air. The Molebears that had been peeking out of their holes vanished at the air-shattering sound of her four wings. 

Angela glanced behind herself. What was that noise? Were those voices?   
No, nothing. Angela sighed. She decided to leave the castle and suddenly she was all paranoid.   
Of course, she had a reason to be paranoid. Not this "demon wolf" that everyone had been chattering about. That was just a bunch of rumors and gossip.   
Her mother had sent soldiers after her. She had just barely made it out of the Sub-Zero Ice, and they were still on her trail. Of course, she had set them back a few days, thanks to the flute she had wheedled out of Hawk.   
Angela patted the flute, which was hanging off her belt, and smiled. Where would she be without Buuskaboo? Well, she knew that already. Castle arrest. With Koren in the castle.   
She shivered.   
Another twig snapped, and now she could hear voices plainly.   
"She went this way!"   
Angela swore quietly and crouched near the base of a tall, well-foliaged tree. The voices came closer.   
"I knew I shouldn't have stayed at that inn for breakfast." Angela muttered at herself, and scrambled up the tree. Her knapsack caught once on a branch but she wrenched it free and continued up. She reached a large branch and lay there motionless.   
Just in time. The soldiers were below her.   
"Dammit, I know I saw that ugly bright color that she uses for clothing."   
Okay, Angela thought, lose the clothing. It was awfully cold, anyway.   
"It could have been anything, Mark. Let's check over here."   
"It was that color!"   
"Over here."   
"Sir, I saw it too."   
"Probably a flower."   
From her viewpoint above, Angela saw dark movement in the brushes beyond.   
"What's that dripping noise?"   
"Sounds like rain."   
"It's just water. Come on."   
Angela remembered vaguely that the demon-wolf was said to have blood dripping from it's mouth. She clutched the branch tighter. "Please, please," she whispered, "Please, just wild gossip . . ."   
With a frenzied roar, the daemon leaped into the midst of the soldiers, it's huge claws ripping deep, rusty furrows into the ground.   
The soldiers stared for one frantic moment, and then drew their swords and began to chant spells. The daemon was extremely outnumbered. It howled in rage, the voice of a million death screams.   
The soldiers released their spells.   
The battle was over very quickly.   
The ground was soaked in blood, stained crimson from the soldiers and the demon's dripping jaws.   
The ground was also littered with quivering pieces of soldier.   
_(Warrior of Mana!) _the daemon screamed wordlessly. _(You are not among these! You are hiding! Show you to us! Coward! Coward!)_   
Angela did not move. She barely breathed, and tried not to let her eyes wander down to the nauseating carnage below the tree.   
Rumors said the wolf was blind. The stench of blood erased her scent. As long as it could not hear her, she was safe.   
_(Angela! Coward! The weakest! You do not even try to defend them. You have no courage. You have no strength, weak one! We will rip you and let the sweet blood stain the earth! We will tear . . .)_ The wolf faded even as it spoke, its voice still strained with raw anger. When it was gone, Angela closed her eyes and lay in the tree, breathing.   
After a while, she climbed down slowly.   
Carrion birds and insects had already started their feast.   
Angela turned away in revulsion and horror. She walked over to a bush and threw up. Repeatedly, until her stomach was empty of everything and anything.   
It was all her fault. 


	6. When One Fortnight Passes

Chapter Six- (When one fortnight passes . . .)

  
  


Hawk fought the bitter wind. He had forgotten how cold Altena was, outside the walls of the city. He kept going over the words of the demon.

(When one fortnight passes we will scatter her bones to the wind . . .)

A fortnight. Two weeks. One had already passed, and the second was well on it's way. It was already Gnome's Day.

Hawk glanced up, ignoring the sting of snowflakes, and saw a light through the blizzard.

That must be the castle. I'm almost there . . . He stumbled and tripped over a rock, and then the Sahugins ambushed him. He rolled over onto his back, fighting off the fish-people while he struggled to get up.

When he stood they scattered, leaving three dead. Hawk continued on towards the light, and stopped when he stepped on something crunchy- 

-fallen leaves. He glanced up, and saw a fruit tree almost glowing green with foliage. 

The trees lined the valley. The eternal spring of Altena was back, and this time extended beyond the walls. But not very far.

Altena was the last place Jessica could be, short of the Dragon's Den or any of the other nesting places of evil. 

Hawk got to the gate and collapsed against it, exhausted. He stood there until a guard spotted him.

Which took about five minutes. "You down there! State your name- oh. It's Hawk." She turned and yelled at the gatekeeper. "Let him in!"

The gate slowly creaked open, and Hawk walked in. He grinned at all the people gathered to greet him, and then made his way towards the inner castle, to talk to the Queen of Reason.

  
  


Valda was not happy. Her daughter had run, and she had not heard from the soldiers sent after her for three days.

They had been punctual, sending updates every other day. She could only assume something had happened to them, and only hope they were not dead but instead on their way back.

But they would still send messages- "Oh. Hawk." Valda straightened in her throne as Hawk bowed.

"May I stay here for the night?"

Just a routine visit, then. The Queen of Reason sighed. "Of course. The gates of Altena are always open to the Warriors of Mana."

"Thank you." Hawk bowed again and turned to leave.

Koren entered the room.

They stared at each other for a second, and then Koren bolted for the door. Hawk caught him by the cape and pulled him back.

"What," Hawk demanded, "are you doing here?"

"N-nothing!" Koren said, shaking a little and fighting the urge to panic. "Just- just living . . ."

"Then why did you run?" Hawk shook Koren fiercely.

"I-I wasn't expecting you to be here . . ."

"The feeling's mutual." Hawk dropped Koren, and Koren lay sprawled over the ground thanking the Goddess Hawk didn't know about Jessica. But Hawk wasn't finished. 

"Jessica." he growled.

Koren, who had been getting up, froze. "What- what about her?"

Hawk noted the reaction and then shrugged. "Nevermind. I'm going to my room for the night." He paused. "May I choose my room?"

Valda nodded. "Of course."

Koren, an eternal opportunist, had left the room.

  
  


Hawk chose the room next to Koren's, and sat on the bed thinking far after dusk. The clock had struck deep night when the door to Koren's room creaked open. Soft footsteps sounded down the hallway, the noise of someone trying to be quiet when they had not had much practice.

Hawk didn't have that problem. He trailed Koren down the winding halls and deep into the dungeons of Altena Castle.

And then Koren vanished.

  
  


Koren hurried across the cold stone floors, never stopping. He had memorized the route to Jessica's current quarters.

A scream cut through his mind and Koren dropped to his knees, covering his head with his arms. 

The daemon-wolf screamed again. (Koren you fool! You have led Hawk to her! We shall kill you and her and Hawk all, but first her! Hawk cannot be allowed to possess her!)

Then another scream, a woman's scream, this one shattering the air. Koren scrambled to his feet and ran. He was almost there . . . not too late, please . . .

He shoved the door open and saw the wolf shaking Jessica like a doll. The screaming stopped in a choked gurgle, but the silence was much worse.

"No!" Koren screamed. "Why did you kill her? Why?! What did she do that merits death? Why don't you just kill Hawk?"

(We will, eventually . . . . But now her power is ours . . .) The demon dropped Jessica and leaned towards Koren. (There is great power in death and agony. But you know this. He comes.) 

The demon laughed, and faded into the air, leaving Koren kneeling over Jessica's mangled body and crying. He had treated her like a daughter, knowing that her life was in his hands, and now the only thing he could do for her was give her a decent burial. 

Hawk burst into the room. He saw Koren, blood soaked, standing over Jessica's corpse. His first reaction was rage.

"Koren!! What the hell did you do to her?!" he shrieked, and, knives drawn, attacked.

Koren stepped backwards in panic and then backed up against the stone wall, shaking. "I-I tried to save her! It- it . . . don't kill me . . . please . . ." Koren collapsed onto the ground, sobbing. "I tried . . . I tried . . ."

Hawk stopped, one of his knife blades inches from Koren's head. He withdrew it and glared at Koren. He began to talk, paused, stepped forwards and slipped in a pool of blood. 

Lying facedown, Hawk stared at Jessica's corpse as if seeing it for the first time. When he stood back up, he cradled Jessica in his arms and left the room, picking his way up out of the dungeon.

Koren left much later.

After the funeral, Hawk disappeared. An hour later, a soldier found him locked up in the mausoleum with Jessica's coffin, crying silently. 

  
  


FWAHAHAHA!! Y'all knew it was coming. Next Chapter: Kevin


	7. Silence Heralds Our Coming

Chapter Seven– Cheerful Greetings

  
The sun glinted weirdly off the battlements of the castle of the Beast Kingdom, as if the sun's light, in decent, had diminished to a pale shadow of itself.  
Eternal night lurked above this kingdom.  
Flammie circled above the castle twice, then descended with a flurry of wings. It got darker as she came closer to the treetops, and in the sky the sun shone a sickly white like the full moon. She landed in a small flower-strewn clearing. Duran jumped off first, and landed. He stretched his arms out and breathed in the clean night air. Carlie landed next to him.   
"Nice flowers." she said. Duran nodded. "Where d'we go ta get Kevin?" Carlie looked up at Duran.  
"Why don't you ask Lise that?" Duran looked back. Flammie was curling up in the flowers, looking contented, her white wings folded over her.  
"That way." Lise came up behind Duran, and gestured to a narrow, slightly overgrown path that twisted through the dark woods. "It's not far. And then we hope that Kevin has better news than we do."  
The path was short, eventually petering out into a paved clearing. The castle walls loomed over the clearing, and the gate was shut against the everlasting night. One of the guards leaned over the ramparts above the gate.  
"Who goes there?" the beastman roared, clashing his halberd against the ramparts for effect.  
Duran cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted back at the guard looking down at them. "The Warriors of Mana!"  
The guard stared over the ramparts, then motioned at someone in the gatehouse. The gates slowly creaked open, and Kevin loped out to greet them, grinning madly.  
"Lise! Duran! Carlie!" he said, hugging them. He stopped. "Where everyone else?"  
Lise glanced at Duran and Carlie, then cleared her throat. "We couldn't find them. Kevin, we bring ill tidings, not good news."  
Kevin waved his hand. "Tell later. Now, we go in. I get food, we feast! All happy. Then tell me. Come!"  
The three other Warriors of Mana followed him inside the castle of the Beast Kingdom, each worrying silently about the person they had left behind, and if the demon-wolf was truly only after them. 

Kevin sat in a wooden chair, pushed back from the table where they had been eating. "So," he said slowly, "This blood-beast attack not you, just good friends and family?"  
Duran nodded, while Lise looked at the both and Carlie went on chewing at a baked Rabite leg.  
"How you know blood-beast want kill you, not friends?"  
"What it said to us." Duran shuddered at the memory of the daemon's voice. "It swore to kill us all, hunt us all down one by one, and . . ." He clenched the hilt of his sword.  
Lise broke in. She sounded very tense, like a taut string. "You haven't heard of it? I was told of it in my castle before it attacked Eliot."  
"No, not hear anything. But very secluded here, hard to come." Kevin looked worried. "I come with you. Not want anything to happen to Karl or kingdom. You came on Flammie?"  
Carlie glanced up from her food, smiling. "Yup-yup! Flammie's waiting! C'mon! Let's go!  
Kevin leaped up from his chair. "I come! Just few things, then go!"  
Duran stood up slowly, pushing his chair back to the table. "Let's wait for him by the gate."  
Lise followed him out the door. Carlie gnawed loudly on her food until Lise came back in, picked her up, and carried her out, all the while telling Carlie about good table manners and the importance of looking dignified during social occasions.

"So," Lise said, to Kevin while they traveled down the dark, brush-covered path to Flammie's clearing, "Then this stupid knight came up to me, and started complaining about the right to hunt Harpies up in the mountains, like Forcenians have any rights in Rolante! And . . ."  
Carlie chased lightning bugs in erratic circles around them, occasionally bumping into Duran, who was just walking silently. He wondered why Lise even had the heart to chatter on like that. She was probably just trying to keep her mind off what was going on.  
A scream and a roar shattered the nervous calm of the path. All four Warrior stopped, startled, eyes wide, then ran down the path.  
A grating voice confirmed their fears. _(Cursed dragon! Leave our path, Daughter of Winds! Or we will rip you as well! The Warriors are ours to rend!)_ The cry ended in a shriek that deafened Flammie's battle cries.  
_(We will return, wind-dragon! You will regret that! We will tear . . . .)_ The voice faded even as they reached the flower-strewn clearing. Flammie lay on her side at one end, blood streaked down her side, and darker blood on her paws. It hissed and bubbled, eating away at the very bone of her claws. Her wings were tattered, feathers ripped away and broken.  
Carlie yelped and ran over to Flammie. She examined the claws, careful not to touch the daemon's blood, and then began to chant.  
"Goddess's light, source of our power, heal these wounds! Light Heal!"  
Light shimmered down onto Flammie, glowing so brightly she could not be seen for a moment, and then dissipated. Flammie still lay on her side, but her wings were restored and clean white again, and the blood had vanished, along with any trace of a wound. She raised her head and looked at Carlie, eyes bright with joy. She nuzzled Carlie.   
Carlie laughed. "All better, huh huh?" Flammie whuffed in reply.   
Kevin ran up, and greeted her with a bunch of flowers he had just picked from the edge of the clearing. He braided them into her mane while Duran and Lise relaxed nearby.  
Carlie chased more firebugs.  
When at least they were ready to leave, they left quickly.  
It was just dawning above the eternal night.

**Author's Notes:**

Sorry I took so long to get this up. ^.^* You forgive me, right? I should get the next chapter up quickly . . . don't get your hopes really high though . . .

Remember, review! And I hope you like this chapter . . . I was in a bit of a hurry when I wrote it . . .

~CC


	8. Carnage Is Our Passing

Chapter Eight– Carnage In Our Passing

  
King Richard paced his throne room. To either side of his throne stood two Knights of Gold, the royal guards. More stood by the door, but the day had been strangely uneventful. No requests from the people, no squabbles to resolve. And in all this time no word from Duran. Only Stella, each day reporting that no word had come and Wendy is recovering. Mana was failing them slowly, and the six great warriors of this era vanish. Vanish! They let this daemon-wolf, if it truly exists, drive them about like sheep.  
King Richard cursed under his breath. He had sent messages to Queen Valda, Queen Lise, the Beast King, and the ruler of Navarre, King Flamekin. None had replied, except for a cursory note from Rolante stating that the Queen was away, and they had enough to deal with there. Now he knew that what was happening in Forcena must be taking place all over the world.   
Mana was rising again, but wildly, influenced by something unpredictable almost to the point of insanity. Some even claimed the Ghost Ship could be seen again, and the Flaming Desert was occasionally bursting into lightning, the sand blackening into dark, molten glass. In Forcena, earthquakes were becoming more and more frequent, and animals were crazed, attacking travelers. Sightings of the daemon increased each day.  
Richard sighed. Perhaps the cursed wolf was behind it all. He had heard other, less sensible reasons as well, such as the wrath of the Goddess had descended, or that it was all due to the proximity of the moon.  
"Your Highness," one of the guards said, breaking him out of his thoughts. Richard stopped pacing , and turned to face the Knight.  
"Yes?" he said.  
The Knight bowed. "A soldier from Altena wishes to speak to you. She looks as if she just walked out of battle, sir."  
Richard sat back down on his throne quickly. "Let her in."  
"Yes, sir." The Knight stood and ordered the guards by the great double-door of the chamber to let her in to see the King.  
The doors swung open, and in the doorway was an Altenian soldier-witch, leaning heavily on a staff. Her leg and chest were bound in dirty, bloodstained cloth and splinted hastily with gnarled branches, and her long hair was a filthy mess of dried blood, mud, and leaves. She could barely walk, and hissed with pain when she moved.  
Richard stood. "Good Goddess! She should see a healer, now."  
"We tried, but she insisted to see you first." The Knight said apologetically, as Richard sat. The witch made her way slowly towards the throne, then dropped to her knees in front of it. She was still leaning on the staff. Her breath was ragged and pained.  
"Your Highness, I am Mica, from Altena."  
"I know this." Richard said.  
"I was one of a squad sent . . . by Queen Valda . . . to stop Angela. She was running from Altena . . . we think she was coming here." Mica stopped, her hand clenched around the splintered staff.   
Richard wondered vaguely how much more she could say before she fainted. He hoped it wasn't much, because then he could send her off to the healers . . . .  
"We thought we saw her, but . . . ." Mica choked and coughed, then hung onto her staff for a moment, face white with agony, swaying a bit with exhaustion "The . . . wolf . . . . attacked us . . . I was lucky . . . just tossed aside . . . Send a message to Queen Valda . . . tell her that we died honorably . . . . and . . ." Mica finally collapsed, still clutching the staff. She was still breathing, and the red stains on her makeshift bandages were still spreading slowly.  
"Get her to the healers, quickly!" the Knight ordered, and then walked out of the room, the guards carrying Mica following him. 


	9. And Silence In Our Wake

Chapter Nine: And Silence Is Our Wake 

Angela stopped, her hand against a tree trunk. The road was out there, but she didn't know if she should travel it. Anything could be on the road. The daemon, soldiers to take her back to Altena to face Koren again, the daemon, the daemon, the daemon . . . . She shuddered. But the road was easier to travel then the woods, and she wouldn't trip over this damn cloak so much. And why would the daemon be traveling by road, anyway? That was a stupid thought. Angela giggled nervously.  
She took a deep breath, and walked out onto the well-trod road.  
Instantly a knife was at her throat, another pricking her in the back. Angela swore mentally. I was right after all . . . and stood very still.  
"Oh. Angela." The knives disappeared. Hawk stepped in front of her. "Sorry. I didn't recognize you at first with the trousers and cloak." He studied her for a second. "And short hair."  
"Goddess, Hawk, you scared me." Angela said, and started to laugh, all her stress finally seeping out in hysterics. Hawk just watched her. She took a deep breath and forced herself to stop before she started crying.   
There was something wrong with Hawk's eyes. They looked dull, beaten, and everything in his stance spoke of him seeking one bloody goal.  
"What happened?" Angela said, quietly.  
Hawk tensed, then spat "Let Koren tell you."  
"Koren!" Angela spun around, and saw Koren trying to slink into the shadows beneath the trees. She stalked over and grabbed him by the back of his cape. "Why are you here?! I came here to get away from you! Why can't you just die?"  
Koren flinched. "I would . . . but I can't." He shivered. "I have to help . . . Hawk. Tell him I didn't know . . . . the wolf . . ."  
Angela threw him against a tree, and left him there, shaking. She sat down in the middle of the road and cried.  
Hawk just stood and watched her until the sun touched the treetops and bathed them in the dim golden light of sunset.  
"If we want to get anywhere today, we have to start now, before it is too dark to travel." As Angela stood up and brushed the dust from her clothes, he walked over to Koren and kicked him. "Did you hear me? Get up."  
Koren obeyed, standing shakily. He never looked up, only at the road.  
They all walked silently for a while, until the dying yellow light of the sun faded into the grey of twilight. Hawk found a small alcove and lit a small fire, then vanished into the woods.  
Angela sat down in front of the fire, feeding it twigs and dried leaves. She ignored Koren, who was lying miserably in front of the fire, wrapped up in his cape.   
Neither spoke until Hawk returned, carrying a few dead Rabites. He skinned them and impaled them on sharpened sticks to roast.  
They ate in silence, and then went to sleep, each drowned in their anguish.

Angela woke, startled. The forest was completely silent. Not even the nigh-insects buzzed. She curled closer to the embers of the fire, eyes closed. She wanted to go back to sleep.  
Hawk screamed. "I'll kill you!" Angela jerked, sitting up in time to see Hawk bolt upright, eyes wide, reaching for his daggers.  
"It's just a dream." Angela said.  
"If only it were . . . ." Hawk muttered. His voice caught, and he stared at Koren, who was shaking and whimpering something at the dark forest. Hawk stood up and strode over. He touched Koren on his shoulder, and his hand came away wet with blood, black in the nighttime.  
He looked up. Traced around the campsite was a trail of dripped blood, paced around in a perfect circle, except where it broke and touched Koren.  
"Koren!" Hawk snapped. Koren twitched, then sat up quickly. He had been crying. "Did you see the daemon?"  
Koren mumbled something under his breath and Hawk struck him across the face, leaving a red trail. "Speak, damn you!"  
"Yes." Koren stared at the fire. "It came . . . please . . ." He shuddered, clutching his stained robe around him like a shield. His voice dropped to a whispery plea. "Leave me alone . . . ."  
Hawk was no longer listening. He was staring at the forest, hands tight around his knives. "You coward!" he shrieked. "Come and fight! Come and fight me! I'll kill you! I'll shred you, like you did Jessica!"  
A low, hideous laughing came from the forest all around them, like crushed bone grating. Angela buried her head in her cloak.  
_(We wait . . . . come and slay us, knight of Navarre. If you wish to kill us, come into the shadows and dance with your silver knives. We will play. Yes . . . . we will rend you . . . sweet blood to feed the flowers. . .)_  
Hawk said nothing in reply, just stood tense at the edge of the circle of blood.  
_(Who is the coward, then, thief? Come out into the darkness and feed our hunger. Let us scatter your soul to the wind . . . come . . . . dance with our claws . . . . we will tear you . . . sweet pain . . . sweet crimson life to stain the earth . . . come, coward . . . do wish revenge? Do you wish our sweet sweet revenge as blood and death . . . . yes . . . we know . . . as you wait we grow stronger . . . . come and your revenge will fulfill ours . . .)_  
Hawk took a step beyond the circle. Koren whimpered again, and moved backwards towards the fire, trembling. Angela could hear a faint dripping sound. She glanced up, and in the trees she saw a glimpse of fangs and claws and milk-white eyes.  
"Hawk! Don't go! It will just kill you, Hawk. Come back." Angela got up slowly, terrified of what waited in the shadows but more terrified of Hawk dying. "Please, Hawk."  
Hawk looked back at her, startled, broken out of his trance. He turned around, then fell to his knees.  
The daemon snarled. _(Koren . . . you still have debt to pay us . . . . come kill Hawk, Crimson Mage, and we will spare you the death . . . we will share the power of it with you . . . you used that power once . . . the sweet black red blood magic . . .)  
_Koren buried himself deeper into his robes. He said something, but it was muffled by the folds of cloth._  
(We will return . . . you will choose then, Mage, and we will rip if that is needed . . . . your soul is afraid of agony . . . choose their death or sweet blood life . . . .)_ The daemon's terrible voice faded as it did.  
Hawk stood up as soon as it was gone. He kicked Koren, hissing something at him that Angela couldn't hear, and then went back to where he had been sleeping, and curled up in his blanket.  
Angela couldn't sleep until the night-insects began their chirping again, and by then it was almost dawn.

Author's Notes:

I was going to call this chapter "On Koren As A Stress Reliever", but that wasn't appropriate. It'd be surprised if the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Koren doesn't come after me for this chapter. ^^*


	10. A Thousand Shining Eyes

Chapter Ten– A Thousand Shining Eyes 

The wolf sat, perfectly still, as motionless as the black statues of demons and Death that dotted the crumbling palace. Embers, from fires lit long ago, illuminated the darkness enough so that the wolf could see the shadowy mirrors embedded in the floor. Its own cloudy white eyes stared back at it from the floor, and nothing else. No other reflection.  
The wolf tensed, the only sound in the long-abandoned halls it's harsh breathing and the steady drip of blood from its jaws. The wolf threw its head back, blood coursing down the matted black fur of its neck, and it howled. The palace shook, stones raining from the ceiling as the wolf howled again and again, screaming frustration.  
Finally, it quieted, the eerie ululations echoing through the passageways, fading farther and farther away.  
Beneath the palace, beneath the earth, something stirred. The wolf snapped its jaws and growled.  
_(No, Underdark. No, Underworld. Your time passed . . . now it is ours . . . . we have bound you as we were bound . . . our time is now . . . we rise from our ashes, a bloody phoenix . . . now your time is ended . . . these dark halls, these fires, this night power is ours . . . .)_ The wolf cocked its head, eyes closed, breathing in the dry air. _(We will rend . . . yes . . . .)_  
The ground shuddered again, some of the dark mirrors of the floor cracking and buckling. The wolf snarled, and leapt into the air. As it fell, it faded, gone before it would have hit the ground.  
Something shrieked. The palace creaked under the stress of warring powers.  
_(Too hasty, Underdark. This time is ours. A millennia underworld again, our gift . . . .)_ Grating laughter gnawed at the edges of the mirrors. A million pairs of clouded white eyes blinked and wavered in the remaining mirrors, casting soft light towards the cracked ceiling, which was smeared with dried blood. Under the blood were exquisitely worked frescos, each slightly more disturbing, in a way that scratched at sanity.  
_(Their sweet blood is ours alone now . . . Ours . . . . and the grass shall be fed with their crimson life . . . .)_  
The eyes shut, and the embers died, leaving only the devouring darkness and the thousand broken mirroes.

  


**Author's Notes:**

Okay, sorry, a bit short. The next chapter will be much much longer.


	11. Thief's Honor

Chapter Eleven- Thief's Honor  
  
Hawk walked ahead of Angela and Koren, staring at the ground. Angela followed him, only stopping once in a while to see if the sky had cleared of the dark clouds that smothered it. It hadn't, yet, and she didn't know how long they had been walking. Since dawn, at least, and she had no way of telling what time it was now, without the sun. It might as well have been night, or dusk, or dawn.  
  
She could hear Koren sobbing behind her, but the sound just sickened her. He'd brought this on himself. Angela shuddered. She felt like spinning around and screaming at Koren to just shut up, you bastard, it's all your fault anyway. She dug her fingers into her cloak and glared down at the gray and dusty road.  
  
In front of her, Hawk stopped.  
  
Angela looked up. Hawk was staring up at the sky, which still was choked with heavy, rainless clouds. She felt herself grow very cold.  
  
"What is it, Hawk?" she whispered.  
  
"Up there . . . I saw something white. It can't be a bird. It's too big." Hawk said, never moving his gaze from the stormy clouds.  
  
"A wisp of white cloud." Angela drew her cloak tightly around her.  
  
Hawk put hand on the hilt of one of his knives. "I don't think so-"  
  
Koren screamed. They spun around.  
  
He was lying curled on the ground, a flood of hideous black rats swarming over him, gnawing and squealing. They were pooled around him, pouring from the ditches at the roadside. Angela stared at the rats in horror.  
  
Koren was gone, covered by filthy, misshapen rats.  
  
Hawk turned away, and began to scan the sky again.  
  
Angela stumbled over, still in shock, and began to hack at the rats with her belt knife, wading through the mass of rats. Her arms were swiftly stained with blood, but the rats continued flooding in, refusing to relinquish this easy meal.  
  
Underneath the mass, Koren stirred, then stood shakily, head bowed, the rats still scurrying up his legs and hanging off of his arms and cloak, squeaking shrilly, chewing and gnawing.  
  
He stood still.  
  
Koren lifted his head slowly. His eyes blazed with a hateful light.  
  
Angela retreated from him, startled, and Koren flung his arms out and shrieked a word. The rats exploded backwards in a screeching circle of dust, and then fled back into the forest, squealing like mad dogs.  
  
Koren collapsed into a shivering, bloody heap on the road. Angela stepped forward to help him.  
  
"No," Hawk said, voice blunt, without turning his gaze from the dark sky. Angela turned away, looking at the road. "There. I see it . . ."  
  
She looked back up at the sky, and gasped. "Hawk! Hawk, that's Flammie!" Now clear against the sky, the white form of the dragon circled and shimmered above them, against the thick clouds. Angela could see each of Flammie's four wings beating against the wind.  
  
Hawk turned towards her, his expression blank. "I know," he said, bitterly.  
  
Flammie circled again, lower, and trilled a song in greeting that seemed to float down from the sky like a dying rainbow.  
  
Koren stirred and sat up feebly, holding himself up with his hands shoved into the crimson-splotched dust of the road.  
  
(You see, crimson mage . . . what our power is. . . .)  
  
He spun around, the movement knocking him back down onto the road and jarring his thousand cuts and bruises, but the road behind him was empty of any movement but the stirring of dust and leaves.  
  
"No. . ." Koren whispered, and curled painfully in his tattered cloak again.  
  
Flammie landed on her hind legs, beating her wings and driving up clouds of dust. She dropped to all fours and purred as Carlie leaped off her back, yelling happily.  
  
"Hawkie!"  
  
Hawk ignored her. He stared past her, past Flammie, into the dark forest hidden by Flammie's slowly beating wings.  
  
Angela ducked into one of the shallow ditches at the side of the road, not wanting to meet the other Warriors of Mana face to face.  
  
Carlie stepped backwards and swallowed. "Hawk. . . ?"  
  
Lise jumped down, quickly followed by Duran and Kevin.  
  
Angela watched them blankly.  
  
Lise whispered something to Duran.  
  
Hawk started to laugh, a hollow, desperate laugh, with nothing of humor in it.  
  
"Something is wrong . . . the daemon walks free? Why do you not hunt it?" his eyes were wild, crazy with grief. "Jessica is dead, because of you . . . because . . ." He broke off in a snarl, and crouched, ready to attack, knives drawn in an instant.  
  
Duran turned to Carlie and began to talk to her, quietly, in the background. Kevin looked quite startled at Hawk's violent reaction, and started to move forward. Lise motioned him backwards.  
  
Anglea watched, hidden by the shadows of the trees.  
  
Lise walked forward, towards the crouching Hawk, her hand outstretched to him and her eyes full of sorrow. "I'm truly sorry for your loss." She clasped Hawk's hand in hers, and gazed straight into his eyes. "I'm sorry."  
  
Hawk swallowed, unable to meet her gaze, and dropped the knives to the ground. He shivered and then collapsed into Lise, sobbing.  
  
Angela looked away, and met the eyes of Flammie. Startled, she backed up into a tree. Flammie whuffed and then rubbed her snout against Angela. She pushed Flammie's nose away. "Flammie! Cut it out!" Flammie nodded, and drew back a pace.  
  
Carlie screamed, and then ran over to Koren's side, Duran and Kevin running after her. They stared down at Koren for a moment, and then Carlie clung onto Duran's leg and cried.  
  
Koren stirred, trying to sit up.  
  
Kevin stepped backwards. Duran crouched down to try and help.  
  
Then he realized, through all the blood and dirt and filth, who that was.  
  
He went rigid.  
  
Carlie glanced up at him, and then down at Koren, who was feebly trying to hide from Duran by curling up in his ripped cloak.  
  
"Goddess's light, source of our power," she began to chant, making the hand- signs of the spell of Healing. Duran grabbed her roughly and pulled her back towards him.  
  
"What you doing?" Kevin demanded.  
  
"This . . . . man does not deserve to be Healed." he said, never looking away from Koren.  
  
"I got no fight with Koren now. You hold grudge too long."  
  
Duran shifted his glare to Kevin. "He killed people I knew!"  
  
Carlie looked puzzled, but nodded and, cheerful as ever, turned to Flammie.  
  
"Flammie, you carry him too, huh-huh?"  
  
Flammie purred, then walked over and carefully scooped Koren up in her claws. Koren screamed and started to flail around, smearing blood and dirt over Flammie's white fur.  
  
Duran started to laugh hysterically. "He's afraid of Flammie. Oh, Goddess, that's funny. Who could be afraid of Flammie?"  
  
Flammie looked disgruntled, and rumbled deep in her throat at Duran.  
  
Kevin crossed his arms. "That cruel, Duran." He and Duran exchanged glares again.  
  
Carlie giggled a little as well, and then jumped up onto Flammie's claws. "Flammie NOT eat you, stupid." she said, perched above Koren.  
  
Koren shut up and lay limply in Flammie's claws, breathing hard, eyes closed. Flammie purred approval, then looked at Duran with her head cocked to one side.  
  
Duran glanced behind himself, then back at Flammie. "Oh. Yes, let's go." He walked over to Flammie and carefully climbed up her side, choosing to sit between her first pair of wings.  
  
Kevin followed him closely, sitting on Flammie's neck, buried in her mane. Carlie scampered up Flammie's arm, reappearing between her ears. She sat down.  
  
Angela stepped out of the shadowy ditch and placed her hand on Flammie's flank. "I'm coming, too." she said, quietly.  
  
Duran looked down, startled. "Angela! How did you get here? Were you traveling with Hawk?" He smiled, and extended his hand to help her up. Angela took it, and sat down beside him. Flammie rumbled.  
  
"I have been traveling with Hawk. Duran, the daemon . . . it . . . the wolf kills, and kills, it doesn't care . . . did you see what it did to Hawk?"  
  
Duran didn't answer. Angela leaned against him and sighed.  
  
"This demon-beast, I never seen it." Kevin said.  
  
"May you never see it." Duran said grimly, and Angela said "You're lucky."  
  
They sat in silence until Flammie yawned.  
  
Kevin stood up. "Hey, Lise, Hawk, we leaving. Come!"  
  
Carlie jumped up from her sitting position and yelled. "Hawk, Lise! You gonna stand down there crying all day, huh huh? We gotta kill th' demon! C'mon!"  
  
Lise looked up and then silently led Hawk over to Flammie and helped him up. They sat down behind Duran and Angela.  
  
"Oki-doki, let's go." Carlie chirped, and Flammie rumbled. She launched herself into the air, faltering a bit from the the weight of her passengers.  
  
But soon they were far up in the sky, close to the heavy clouds, with no sign that they had been there at all except for a windswept, dusty road splattered crimson.  
  
-------------------------------------------------- Thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far! Next up, chapter 12 and . . . WotH Mad Libs! Hee hee hee. Just kidding. Maybe. ~ChibiCharizard 


	12. A Peaceful Night

Chapter Twelve– Peaceful Night 

It was a windless night. The clouds had long cleared, but the stars were oddly faded and the moon was dark. A lazy pillar of smoke spiraled up into the sky, blotting out some of the twinkling points of light.  


Kevin sat, legs crossed, in front of the fire. The flames cast weird shadows across his face, making him look like a shadowed wolf. His eyes were closed, and sometimes, when the fire crackled and dimmed, he would feed a twig or a stick into it.  


Lise was sitting across from him, leaning back on Hawk. He was lying curled up in a blanket, sleeping uneasily. Every once in a while he twitched and muttered or sobbed, a short, cut-off muffled sob that caught in his throat. Carlie and Angela were both sleeping next to Flammie, who rumbled loudly with the contented snores of a well-fed dragon. Duran was patrolling the camp in a even circuit. Occasionally he stopped and walked off to investigate a noise.  


Nothing disturbed their peace.  


"Lise, why you leave Rolante? What if demon-beast not want you, want Elliot?" Kevin said, quietly. He slipped another stick into the fire and watched it crackle up higher, into a flickering barrier of orange light between him and Lise.  


Lise sighed and opened her eyes. "I have to believe that it wants me. If I believed otherwise, I couldn't leave him all alone there. As it is, I've had no news of any kind from Rolante, so I must assume that everything is running well. If something happened, I would at least hear rumors."  


Kevin nodded. "I not understand why demon attack you, other warriors but not me. It not make sense. I Warrior of Mana too."  


"I don't know." Lise shifted her position. "Maybe it has something to do with the Moonlit Kingdom."  


The solid sound of Duran pacing abruptly stopped. "Did you hear that?"  


"Hear what?" Lise and Kevin looked towards where they knew Duran was. He was hidden behind trees, out of sight.  


Duran swore, and then launched into a run. "Koren!"  


They heard a scuffle, and then Duran came into the circle of dim light cast by the fire, dragging Koren behind him. He threwKoren to the ground. Koren curled up into a ball, whimpering. He had been crying. Duran turned and walked back into the forest.  


Kevin looked at Koren with pity. "Why you try leave?"  


Koren didn't answer.  


"Leave him alone." Lise said, softly. Kevin nodded.  


Time passed. Duran came back from watch. "Your watch, Kevin."  


"Gah, right." Kevin stood up and stretched, and then walked out of the circle of light.  


"Strange, that I haven't seen the beast since it attacked Wendy." Duran mused, sitting cross-legged with his hand on his sword.  


"I think it's afraid of us." Lise said, and poked the twigs in the fire around with a stick. The fire flared up briefly, and glinted orange off of blank white eyes behind her.  


"Lise! Turn around!" Duran yelled, and stood up and drew his sword. Lise jumped up and spun around, accidentally tripping over Hawk in the process.  


"What the hell?!" Hawk said, sitting up, jarred awake.  


Kevin came crashing back through the forest, in his wolven form, wolf's muzzle drawn back in a snarl. "What is it?"  


Duran blinked, and sheethed his sword. "Sorry, I thought I saw something."  


_(You did.)_  


"Did you hear that?" Duran snapped, glancing around the campsite.  


Lise sighed. "Duran, you're tired and you're seeing things. Sit back down." she said, standing up and brushing herself off. "Sorry, Hawk."  


"Whose watch is it?" Hawk said, rolling up his blanket.  


"Mine." Kevin said. He turned and headed back to his post. "Gah, sorry."  


"How can you fight something that keeps running away?" Duran muttered, but he sat down.  


Hawk shrugged, and moved to the outskirts of the flickering circle of fire-light. "Carlie's still asleep." he reported, dryly.  


"Good. Wake me up in the morning." Duran said.  


After a while, Lise had to assume he was asleep, the only difference from him being awake that his breathing was deeper and his eyes were closed.  


"Hawk . . . you seem to be feeling better." she said, quietly.  


Hawk laughed bitterly. "Oh, good." He lay back, looking up at the sky. "I'm not. I've just had a chance to think about it, now."  


Lise nodded, her face shrouded by the flame's shadows. "I'm going to put the fire out . . . do you mind?"  


"No. You going to ask Kevin?"  


"He can see in the dark. I asked him."  


"Ah."  


Lise waited a moment, but Hawk remained silent, so she turned the embers over and waited for the fire to finish dying. Eventually, she went to sleep.  


The fire died.  


Hawk stayed awake, and watched the dark, cold sky.  


Kevin paused. He could smell blood, faintly, on the wind. "Hawk?" he said. "You still awake?"  


"Yeah."  


"I think . . . wolf-daemon around here, hiding."  


Hawk bolted up. "Where?!"  


"Dunno. Maybe . . . over by Koren? You go wake Duran and Lise and Carlie and Angela."  


_(No need . . . just let me take Koren . . .)_  


Hawk swore and prodded the other Warriors of Mana awake. Carlie was up first.  


"Demon-wolf here?" she said, increduliously. "Where?"  


"Don't know." Kevin said. "But I smell it, really, do."  


The daemon choose this moment to unveil itself, stepping out through a tree, shadows cloaking it. Behind it, around it, a thousand beady eyes glittered.  


_(We came to claim Koren as ours.)_ it said, swinging its head from side to side drunkenly. Its muzzle was matted with dried blood, and blood still dripped from its jaws like rain from a cloud.  


"No!" Carlie bounced forward, holding her flail over her head. "Carlie not let you get anyone, Carlie still mad over Heathie!"  


The daemon-wolf stepped backwards and laughed. The swarm of rats around it hissed and chittered. _(You don't want Koren. . . he is a burden to you. . .)  
_

"No." Lise said, and Carlie nodded.  


"Why not?" Hawk said, and laughed a little, bitterly, dryly. "It'll probably kill Koren and save us the hassle."  


Behind him, Angela nodded, wraith-like in the dark. "He tried to kill us before, or have you forgotten that?"  


_(Your friends talk sense . . . you should listen to them. Give us Koren.)_  


Kevin bounded over, taking long, loping steps. He stood in front of the wolf and snarled. "This not about Koren . . . you leave now, stay away from camp!"  


The wolf snarled back at him, and stepped farther back into the shadows. _(Very well, Warriors of Mana! Your sweet sweet blood shall stain the ground and we will take Koren anyway!)_ The rats around it hissed and squeaked, a sea of tiny red eyes. 

The wolf tensed, and Angela could feel magic gathering around it. She started to mutter the words for a spell, but Lise struck first.   
Lise stepped forward and swung her spear over her head, the tassles hanging off the tip catching the wind. "Jormagund, great world serpent, lord of all earth, heed my call! I remind you of your debt to Rolante!" She planted the spear in the ground, and the earth trembled.  


The wolf howled, trying to drown out Lise's voice, but it was too late; the words had been spoken. The ground rumbled, and split open beneath the wolf, which vanished instantly, fading into nothingness. Its rats fell squeaking to their deaths, clawing at each other blindly in panic. Angela thought she saw a swiftly moving coil, perhaps scales, a huge, unblinking eye in the dark fissure, but it was gone quickly. The crack closed, leaving a jagged line and small mashed bits of rat in the ground. 

Lise knelt and touched the crack with her spear. "Thank you, Jormagund." she murmured.  


_(Did you think that would hurt us? Scare us?)_ The wolf laughed, from behind them. _(We have challenged Jormagund itself before!)  
_

This time, Angela was ready. "Inferno of the sky, fire of the night, Salamander's light, blaze down upon my enemies!" She paused, feeling warmth flare around her and gather into her. "Meteor!"  


The sky around the wolf blazed with flame, raining down and catching its fur. The wolf twisted in pain and stepped out of the way. 

_(All other powers in this world, obey us! You silver you black moon stars sky all! Death Word!)_  


The spell hit them like a tsunami, bringing Angela to her knees. Duran stepped between her and the wolf, sword drawn. "I've cast Bladesharp on this many times, wolf."  


_(Jinn spirit of wind your child calls upon you we call upon you–)  
_

"Duran, move! You in way!" Carlie ordered.  


"What?" Duran said, but stepped aside.   


The wolf swung its blind gaze to Carlie. _(We remember you. . . Jinn lord of wind your children--)_  


"Pure holy Light, source of all power, Goddess's gift, gather in my hands! Holy Ball!" Carlie lashed out and hit the daemon in the muzzle with her morningstar. There was a sharp cracking sound, the wolf recoiled, and light, white, blinding, flared around it. It shrieked, like the death-scream of a rabbit, and vanished.  


_(We are scattered! The shards! No! We are not yet full. . . but when we gather our other souls, we shall scatter your sweet crimson flesh to the winds!)_  


Kevin snarled. "No! We kill you, wolf-beast!"  


There was no answer. Kevin sighed and changed back from his wolven form into his normal self.  


Gradually, the sun dawned, and Duran started to collect and roll up the sleeping blankets. He gave them to Flammie.  


"Collect our other souls?'" Lise mused, while she covered the fire with dirt. "What could that mean?"  


"Shards. . ." Hawk said, under his breath. He watched the sun, arms folded, and thought about what the wolf had said.  


"The Mana stones." Koren said, quietly. "The shards of the Mana stones."  


"What?"  


Carlie bounced over, swinging her morningstar cheerfully. "Carlie thinks so too." She glanced at Duran, who was busy fasteningthe camping equipment to Flammie and talking to Angela. She looked back at Koren, leaning carefully against a tree, blood still leaking from some of his wounds.  


Carlie grinned mischievously. "Goddess's light, source of our power, heal these wounds!" she chanted, and gestured at Koren. "Light Heal!"  


"What are you doing?!" Hawk spun around, knives out, but it was too late. Light bloomed around Koren, healing him.  


"Th . . . thank you." Koren fainted again, exhausted.  


". . . damn you." Hawk growled, but he sheathed his daggers.  


Lise knelt down. "Kevin, help me carry him over to Flammie." Kevin nodded, and they placed Koren in Flammie's claws. Flammie purred.  


They left, before the sun had truly risen yet, heading for the Mana stone of Fire and the desert where is resided.


End file.
